Monster Honda’s Joan Barreda took the winning honours on the fourth day of Dakar 2021, finishing with a six-minute lead over Yamaha’s Ross Branch with rookie Daniel Sanders in third.

It was Barreda’s second stage win of the week but he has expressed concern over tyre usage.

“It was another good stage. I started very far back because of my result yesterday, but that’s the way it is in this Dakar, you’re either at the front or far back,” he said.

“We need to keep it up. I’ve used three tyres so far. I think the one I used today is quite worn, but I was supposed to use it for three days, so it’s not great news. But we’ll see what we can do in the coming days.”

Husqvarna’s Xavier de Soultrait finished today’s stage in fifth place, seven minutes behind Barreda, to move into the overall lead by a slim margin of 15 seconds over the Spaniard.

“It’s difficult to open up large gaps in stages like these. We’d have to attack like a madman, but we’re already going very fast. I again reached 175 km/h today. I could go faster, but I don’t feel like it. You also need to follow the roadbook. At any rate, my pace is really good,” he said.

In today’s stage, Britain’s Sam Sunderland took 12th place with Jamie McCanney in 16th. Chamion Ricky Brabec ended two places behind the Manxman while yesterday’s overall leader Skyler Howes was 20th. Laia Sanz finished 25th with David Knight in 39th and Neil Hawker 67th.

Overall, Sunderland is in seventh, seven minutes off the lead while McCanney is in 19th and half an hour down. Sanz is in 29th, Knight 42nd after a 24 minute penalty and Hawker 58th.